(FILES) This file photo taken on May 4, 2001 shows an immigration officer (L) escorting Kim Jong-Nam, son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, getting off a bus to board an ANA905 (All Nippon Airways) airplane at Narita airport near Tokyo. Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been assassinated in Malaysia, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on February 14, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un met an unidentified American on a tourist island in Malaysia four days before he was assassinated in a Cold War-style hit, a court heard Monday.

Kim Jong-Nam met the man at a hotel in Langkawi on February 9, a witness told the trial of two women accused of the killing that stunned the world.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong allegedly rubbed VX nerve agent on Kim’s face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13 as he waited to board a flight to Macau.

Kim died in agony shortly afterwards and the women were arrested days later.

The pair, who face death by hanging if convicted, have pleaded not guilty and said they were tricked into believing they were part of a prank reality TV show, with their lawyers blaming North Korean agents.

South Korea also has accused North Korea of ordering the murder, an allegation it denies.